A&E network tries to reverse its fortunes

By David Bauder
Associated Press

It's the smallest of signs, but Bill Kurtis hopes his recent trip from Chicago to Gary, Ind., is an indication that things may get better at the A&E Network.

Kurtis was asked by Abbe Raven, A&E's new general manager, to use a particularly photogenic courthouse in Gary as a backdrop for some "American Justice" scenes. Previously, most filming was done in a classroom courtroom at Northwestern University.

He was impressed by Raven's attention to detail. "I like it," he said. "I think she's grabbed hold and almost miraculously in a month or so moved it in a new direction."

Small signs mean a lot because the big picture hasn't been pretty at A&E, a cable channel in a long decline and searching for an identity in a crowded cable universe.

A&E's problems came from several different directions.

"Biography," the series it has been most identified with, lost steam and its sense of uniqueness — not helped by the decision to start a separate A&E Biography channel in 1998.

Reruns of "Law & Order," for years quietly one of A&E's biggest draws, were lost last year when it was outbid by TNT.

Original programming, like "100 Centre Street," failed to catch on. The decision to rerun episodes of "The View" in early evening for working women was a flop.

Raven's predecessor, Allen Sabinson, fired last summer after less than two years on the job, complained publicly that A&E was reluctant to invest in original programming.

A&E doesn't have a hot signature program — like "The Sopranos" on HBO, "Trading Spaces" on TLC or "The Shield" on FX — to distinguish itself at a time when the average home gets 125 channels, said analyst Larry Gerbrandt, of Kagan World Media.

"In television you have to continually reinvent yourself," he said.

A&E's average viewership was down 23 percent in February compared with the same month last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. In prime time, A&E's average of 1.03 million was down 11 percent from last year.

Kurtis' nonfiction series, "Cold Case Files," is a bright spot for A&E. With his work on "American Justice" and the documentary series on current issues, "The Point," the veteran newsman is increasingly the public face of A&E.

But the attempt to set Friday nights aside for documentaries hasn't clicked in the ratings yet.